With their ten-date nationwide tour with Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros fast approaching, Mumford & Sons are set to deliver their first chart topper with their latest release, sophomore album Babel, if industry sources are to be believed.
Billboard forecasts Babel to shoot to #1 by the end of the tracking week with an enormous 600,000 units shifted in its first seven days. Taking one back for the good guys, Mumford & Sons will totally eclipse the highest selling opening week of the year; Justin Bieber’s Believe, debuting with 374,000 sold.
Furthermore, if all goes as predicted, it will be the highest selling rock album since AC/DC’s Black Ice moved 784,000, back in 2008.
However, this prediction doesn’t take into account digital sales, which could break the 400,000 mark upon Babel’s debut. This would make for the second largest digital sales week for an album of all time, behind Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.
Babel follows up Mumford & Sons break out success with Sigh No More in 2010, which peaked at #2 on the charts, eventually going on to sell 2.5 million copies worldwide.
While the album’s leading single ‘I Will Wait’ was well received, it only peaked at #23 back in August. The band has since been building hype through touring the European festival circuit, in preparation for the release of Babel.
News of their success comes off the heels of the announcement that the boys will be spearheading another instalment of their Gentlemen Of The Road concert series in Dugong, New South Wales. The event sees Mumford & Sons embracing and celebrating “the local people, food and music” in a community centric mini-festival that embraces the local arts and businesses of a region.
With a lineup personally handpicked by the new-folkies, who will be headlining, joined by tour buddies 12-piece Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, as well as a host of Australian acts. Including Sarah Blasko, performing on the eve of the release of her fourth studio album, rising 22-year old star Matt Corby, Melbourne’s Husky, US singer-songwriter Willy Mason and a late-night set from mash-up maestros Yacht Club DJs.
In further promotion for their new album, Mumford & Sons also set up a unique pop-up shop in Sydney’s CBD, where fans could preview the new album, take in some live music – all while slugging back shots of whiskey into the night.
Despite the stiff competition of massive legacy acts such as Green Day, No Doubt and Lupe Fiasco all dropping albums the same day, Babel looks to sell more than all these releases combined, cementing Mumford & Sons’ place as one of the world’s premier music acts.
All will be revealed when the official figures are released along with the Billboard 200 chart’s top 10 on Wednesday Oct. 3.
